Gain Exp. At Tonight’s Social

Hello! By now you should all be aware of tonight’s Hand Eye Society Social (details here, but: Unit Bar, 1198 Queen West, doors 7 p.m., presentation 8 p.m.). In an entirely unsanctioned by the event hosts (Capy/Superbrothers) kind of way, I just want to note that I’ll have a few copies of issue minus one of my video game ‘zine, exp., in my bag with me if anyone wants a copy. It’s a mere $5 for 32 pages of fairly unusual video game writing, with articles including Punch Out!! (A failed poem), Metal Gear Ac!d (An absurdly complex DIY boardgame for one), and Red Faction Guerrilla (A dream of a spaceship).

The issue I’ll have with me is the second edition of the issue I sold at Canzine (next to the Torontron, see here) and completely failed to announce at the time, so if you already own a copy, huzzah! and you don’t have to bother picking it up again (unless all the original spelling mistakes and grammatical errors annoy you.)

Anyway, if you see me around and want a copy, just ask (I am the dude next to the magazines in the previously-linked coverage). And if you want one but aren’t coming to the social (for shame!) you can buy online here. Thanks!

first social of 2010 is… Thursday Feb 11th***

To the distinguished membership of the Hand Eye Society: apologies for this double-post (reason: it’s complicated), please note that the corrected date for this event is Thursday, February 11th 2010. ***

For the fifth Hand Eye Society Social, the first of 2010, we are preparing a brief audiovisual presentation intended to thrill & amuse. Hosted by Mr. Nathan Vella of Toronto’s own Capy, a studio that has recently released a couple of thingamjigs for Sony & Nintendo’s machines, the presentation will include glimpses at two types of blinking lights offered by two dudes with beards:

Firstly, Mr. Kris Piotrowski, born in Poland & raised in Cuban Missile Ssauga, a former Ryerson film student and currently creative director at one of them independent videogame studios located here in Toronto, will be presenting for the first time a (hopefully) crazybananas Wiiware project called ‘Heartbeat’, while attempting to explain some learnings from its roundabout design process.

Secondly, Mr. Craig D. Adams, born on Canada’s west coast & living in Toronto since the turn of this 21st century, will be presenting a three-way collaborative project named ‘Superbrothers: Sword & Sworcery EP’, described as a brave experiment in I/O cinema for Apple’s touchtronic machines featuring 1) the remarkable pixel artwork of Superbrothers, an ambiguously pluralized & irritatingly cryptic art & design organization known for the occasional published pixel illustration & a few DIY videogame efforts at ToJam & with the AGI plus 2) the soulful soundz of Toronto’s Jim Guthrie, the Juno nominated recording artist known for using a PSone as a drum machine & sequencer to make marvelous music 3) the engineering capabilities & videogame design prowess of the fine & noble folks at Capy.

These two projects, still deep in development and up until now all but unseen, will be making what is effectively their world premiere at this free presentation and social event at Unit Bar on Queen West in Toronto on February 11th. Doors will open & beers will be available from 19:00 EST and the half-hour presentation itself will begin at 20:00 EST (otherwise known as eight o’clock in the evening).

Afterwards the entire Heartbeat & S:S&S EP teams, including Mr.Jim Guthrie, will be on-hand for chit-chat, poutine or what-have-you.

*** It has been reported by members of the Hand Eye Society that, due to a rare bug with Safari, Mozilla & all internet browsers other than Netscape Explorer v1.7, the date of the next social was incorrectly displayed in a recently published post & in the promotional images on handeyesociety.com & everywhere else on the internet too.

The correct date for the next social is in fact Thursday February 11th 2010. For real. The 11th. ELEVEN. TEN PLUS ONE. (NOT THE FOURTH). We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience this confusion may have caused.

Social #5: The World Premiere of Something Cool

At:
the Unit Bar
1198 Queen St W.
MAP
the unlabelled bar next to the pawnshop, which is next to the Gladstone

On:
November 26th, 2009.
7PM

Let’s:
Smash talk the trash and video games what?

Seriously:
Pekko Koskinen,
from FINLAND, designer of two IGF award winning games Dragonfly Variations and Spawns of Deflebub, as well as co-creator of TOJam game Flowers of Error

and Shawn McGrath,
from EVERYWHERE, creator of Chain3 for iPhone, as well as ToJam favourites Xiq and A Game About Bouncing

Together they secretly collaborate on an unannounced project, Dyad, making this social the WORLD PREMIERE of their new game.  Watch a demonstration of the game and then a break down of design concepts showing an evolution from THIS to THIS.  Afterwards, ask Pekko how he choregraped a dance using shoot-em-up game rules, and ask Shawn about how awesome it was to have Tetsuya Mizuguchi (producer of Rez, Lumines, Space Channel 5) play his game.

As coleslaw, or corn-bread, but ultimately depending on blood sugar levels, Jon Mak (Everyday Shooter guy) may present old, abandoned prototypes of games he and Shawhan (I Am Robot and Proud guy) worked on.

COME and BRING ALL FRIENDS.

Hand Eye Society: The Quadrocial (Social #4)

THIS JUST IN: METANET SOFTWARE ORGANIZES EPIC INTRA-CONTINENTAL MISSION!

In an unprecedented reversal of conventional game-developer migration patterns, Alex Austin (Cryptic Sea’s designer/programmer, aka “the one without tattoos and a goatee”) will be coming all the way from California (Santa Cruz) to Ontario (Toronto).

Yes, you read that right — it’s the never-fabled SW-to-NE crossing!  It’ll be just like “Gold Rush”, but with more than 4 colours, and backwards! Hopefully Alex will remember to LOOK SCHEDULE and BUY MOSQUITO NET!

We know, it’s crazy. And it’s happening August 27th 2009 at Unit Bar, 1198 Queen St W. (7-10pm)

Here’s Unit Bar on Google Maps.

And here are pics of some of the many other Alex Austins who will probably not be attending, courtesy of Google Images. Though to be fair, if any of them had been making their own games for over a decade, we would have invited them too.

(NOTE: you may have a hard time finding Unit partly because the window is full of junk, making it look like yet another semi-abandoned gallery space on West-West-West-Queen-West-West, and mostly because the only “signage” is the word Unit scrawled in chalk on a wall next to the doorway — perpendicular to the sidewalk! So, be extra vigilant when trying to locate it… it really does exist!)

Alex will be showing off (as usual), and talking about some of the exciting and wonderful stuff they’ve been cooking up down south, when they’re not too busy having rollerskating-pizza-karaoke-birthday-parties with Jon Blow. Also we (Metanet) will hopefully have something super-exciting to show. Or at least something exciting — frankly, at this point we’re just shooting for “something”!

Come one, come all.

p.s – Little Known Fact: Toru Iwatani originally came up with the idea for Gish when he observed a pizza missing a slice. Then he forgot all about it and made Pac-Man instead; it wasn’t until twenty years later that Alex and Edmund re-discovered the idea and turned it into a game!

p.p.s – If you’re wondering how the shape and/or colour of a pizza could possibly suggest Gish, it’s because you’ve never seen Japanese pizza — they put really disgusting stuff like mayo and bonito flakes on there, at the same time! A double-cheeze smothered with tar and a couple of eyeballs isn’t really much of a stretch.

The 3rd Social: “The Games of AGI Round 4″ Thursday June 25th

The Hand Eye Society is happy to announce “The Games of AGI Round 4″
(our third social), for videogame makers and enthusiasts Thursday, June
25th, 7-10pm. It’s once again at the bar Unit (1198 Queen Street W.) in
Parkdale and it’s free. Meet some great people, have a few drinks,
play some indie games, and catch what local game makers are up
to.  You don’t need to be a member, everyone is welcome!

“The Games of AGI round 4″
At 7:30 we’ll introduce the Artsy Games Incubator round 4 games* which
will then be playable for the rest of the night! Come enjoy games
featuring: squidy things, raccoons, Luddite potatoes, criminally
awkward breakfast conversation, stylish mountain climbing, and
applying for arts grants!

Started by Hand Eye Society member Jim Munroe the Artsy Games
Incubator is a multi-week workshop where artists, writers and other
creative types learn how to make their own games. You can read about
the AGI and play games from previous rounds on the AGI Blog.

*Time permitting round 4 AGI organizer Miguel Sternberg may also give
a short demonstration of his current work in progress Guerrilla
Gardening: Seeds of Revolution.

“5 in 25″ aka. The Second Social, Thursday, April 23

The Hand Eye Society is pleased to announce “5 in 25″ (our second social), for videogame makers and enthusiasts Thursday, April 23, 7 – 10pm. It’s once again at the bar Unit (1198 Queen Street W.) in Parkdale and it’s free. Meet some great people, have a few drinks, and catch what local indie game makers are up to.

“5 in 25″

At 8:00pm, there will be 5 quick presentations from 5 Toronto indie game developers. Featuring cute monsters, funky claymation, stylized mayhem, interactive fiction, and the world’s ultimate multiplayer game. The audience will be required to interact, and the only goal is excitement. Hosted by Jim McGinley, who dreams of playing Barney Fife on the big screen. At 8:30pm the shenanigans will end, and the socializing will continue.

MESSHOF at MOCCA

Hi Toronto Indie friends,

Game art super hero, Messhof, will be exhibiting some form of gamey artyness at your local MOCCA for the Images Festival.

The opening reception is April 3rd, 7-10 pm. Let’s all go an give him a huge indie man-hug.

Provocative Fun Achieved at First Social

The first Social worked out swell, with a rather dense crowd of gamemakers and enthusiasts descending on Parkdale’s Unit bar.

photo: Mike Nowak

Thanks to everyone who came out, especially our presenter Paolo from Molleindustria who took us through his controversial and thought-provoking games with exclamations like, “I will destroy the credibility of your industry!” after a particularly unsavoury shot from Operation Pedopriest.

To be notified about the next Social in April ‘09, register and optionally become a member.

The First Social

The Hand Eye Society, a new coalition dedicated to meshing Toronto’s videogame communities, will be having its first Social for videogame makers and enthusiasts this Thursday, February 12, 7-10pm. It’s at the bar Unit (1198 Queen Street W.) in Parkdale and it’s free.

We’re excited that Paolo Pedercini from Molleindustria, the celebrated Italian developer of nextgen media activist videogames, will be attending. At 7:30 he will be briefly discussing his next project and taking some questions from the audience. His controversial, hilarious and politically subversive games McDonalds, Faith Fighter and Oiligarchy will be available for play through the night.

This Social is hosted by Jim Munroe. The upcoming bimonthly Socials will be hosted by different Hand Eye Society members as G.J.s, including such notables as Jim McGinley (April), Miguel Sternberg (June), Raigan Burns and Mare Sheppard (August), and Jon Mak (October). The future Socials will invite members of the community to demo their in-progress and finished games in a casual and supportive atmosphere. Register to get an email update on these and other upcoming videogame events.

While in town, Paolo Pedercini will also be doing a talk at OCAD and an art show at Digital Event 09.